1. How did your community service work help the community?
My community service helped the community by organizing and leading people during the walk. It was my job to make sure people didn’t stop and take pictures and stop to take pictures or distract the runners.
2. What were your initial reactions upon hearing that you would be engaging in a community service project?
At first, I was really bummed because we would be out late. It made it worse that it would be a few hours long. I was still new to living in the city and didn’t really know how to get home. Not to mention, I had a test the next day.
3. How did it make you feel to give your time and energy to others?
It felt pretty good knowing that you were doing things for others. It made me happy meeting all kinds of people in the process. In addition, I thought it was a really good cause and was happy that I could add to it.
4. What did you learn about yourself, the people around you, and the service site?
What I learned about myself was that I was not a good people person. The people around were very diverse, some from Spain, and others we quick to share their political views. I learned just how diverse the people in the city really were. The service site was much different than I expected as I was told that it was at Seaport, but we switch to the Brooklyn Bridge, which was way longer than I thought.
5. What stands out as the best and/or most trying experiences that occurred while engaging in your community service project? What did you learn from these experiences?
The experiences that stood out were people asking to take photos with us (the sign holders). Also, when we got into a debate with an older man about our political beliefs. I learned that these types of events can really make people meet others and that sometimes people challenge what you believe in and that you just have to remain calm, in order not to get into an argument with them.
6. How did engaging in this project relate to your education and the larger issues in society?
The project related to my education because part of my education is learning to socialize. Relating to a larger issue, this project relates to diversity and understanding people with different cultures/beliefs because many people there were foreign and thus did not understand the customs nor English.
7. How did your community service experience relate to the “Leadership and Service” session?
It relates since we had to be confident and loud when we were speaking to the bystanders. We literally had to lead the people the right way and instruct them in what to do.
8. How has your community service experience changed your thinking, attitudes, and actions towards others, yourself, the community, and the community service work as a whole?
I think that people should do community service not be it is the right thing to do but we can benefit so much from it self such as getting a better sense of ourselves and meeting new people. I’ve learned to respect myself and others by helping and engaging in these activities because I feel as if I’ll grow as a person. I see community service differently, not as a time when students are force to do these, but a time when people can help/understand each-other.
9. How has your community service experience impacted you personally? What is the most important thing you learned about yourself throughout this experience?
This community service has changed how I feel, I realized that I could actually do something instead of being powerless. My act, even though so small, brought much people happiness. I learned that I like making others happy and feel good about themslves.
10. Were you satisfied with your experience overall? Why or why not?
Yes, I was very satisfied with my experience since I got to help people, meet others, and maintain order. Although I was disappointed that we would get home late and have to take a test in the morning. I was also bummed that most of our class didn’t show up.
11. Do you see yourself staying involved in the community during your college and adult years? Why or why not?
I will still be involved in the community because there are so much benefits for doing so. I can help others and not to mention build a resume. Talk about killing two birds with one stone. I see this as a win-win for everybody and see no reason to stop.
12. Sum up your service-learning experience in a one or two sentence headline:
People did not understand why not to take pictures and others walked the walk for a good cause.
